israeli politics

local tV - 6.28.26

I’ve always complained about local tv – but lately even British theater online is too much for me.  Netflix – eh.  Prime – ok.  But channel 12 can keep me transfixed all evening.  Of course I’m doing other things at the same time, but I kind of feel the awareness of the need to heal in the most banal of evening programs.  “Dancing with the Stars” digs into the vulnerabilities of the most successful of stars – some who have never danced before and fear the exposure of their weaknesses.  “Wedding at first glance” is all about building relationships – at a time when couples are rebuilding their marriages, or learning from the start how to get along with others after years of high stress.  

The only problem I have is with the news.  

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israeli politics

levanon - 6.27.26

I’ve been thinking about Nada Hamadeh, Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States, who signed the framework for a peace agreement with Israel, all day.  What a brave woman!  How many peacemakers who signed with Israel from Levanon have been murdered.   How important for Levanon to return to the wonderful world they had before they were taken over by extremists.  I suspect the wonderful people I knew from Levanon long ago are no longer among the living, but if George Khairallah is still with us, I can’t wait to walk with him along the boulevards of Beirut the way we walked in Salzburg almost 35 years ago.

lebanon – Read Post »

israeli politics

Dancing with the Stars - 6.26.26

Escaping from the corruption, the shame, the stupidity and the evil around us, we escape every other night to a tv program of a dance competition of amazing famous people who learn to excel in musical movement over the months.  Not every one watches this kitsch, in fact most educated and respectable people stay away from tv in the first place, but we are glued to it, amazed how normal people can learn the contortions demanded of them – on high heels yet.  

Pure avoidance.  The helplessness of confrontation is too much to bear.  I cannot go to the West Bank and stop the marauding settlers.  I can and will do everything I can to change the situation, but it’s only in the ballot box that a change can be attempted.

People from other countries tell me that I don’t know the truth of what is happening here, but we do, we know far more than many others, because we recognize fake news with more accuracy that people more far away in more civilized countries, and we know just a bit more about how dancing with the stars is doctored, just as we know how much of the news that arrives in the foreign press is altered, and how it is close to the truth, but not really.    

dancing with the stars – 6.26.26 Read Post »

israeli politics

port said - 6.24.26

Port Said is one of the ‘cafes’ next to the Great Synagogie…

at one point Oren turned to me and said, “Everything you could want is here.  The music is as up to date as you could possibly want – The food is out of this world – and everyone is enjoying themselves.”  I was sitting opposite the portrait of Farid Al-Atrash and thinking, it isn’t like Port Said – it is more like the dream of Port Said.  And how can this be, we wondered, when the world hates us, we’re trying to keep our heads above water on the northern border while our soldiers are dying so that people can continue to live in their homes even though they are under siege, and we could all disappear in a minute.

and yet there is Port Said

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israeli politics

books books books - 6.23.26

I’m not avoiding politics – really – Oh, sure, I am hoping Trump comes to the point with Iran where he realizes they are screwing him and ruining his name and the future of his own country.  But I hope he’s just waiting until our elections in October where the government may well change.  Even if Bibi remains in charge, the more destructive members of his government will probably be eliminated.  

Probably it’s just my escape but my attention is focussed on the books that are finally demanding attention.   And there are 4 books – 3 prose and 1 poetry.  All very different, at different stages, and with different tasks to complete.  

And then there is my heart, which is demanding different tests, each one of which has to be performed in different places.  The heart monitor, for instance, gets picked up in Jaffa one day and returned the next day.  Half hour each way.  The eco test is in Ramat Hachayal – 20 minutes in a different direction.  The regular cardiologist, half an hour to the north,  doesn’t seem to be up to date or doesn’t seem to care, so my gp sends  me to the cardiologist surgeon (for whom I need special permission each time) is in ichilov hospital.  And just the juggling is making my heart race.

I’d prefer to concentrate on books.

And, as you can see, to ignore the persian market that is threatening our lives but over which we have no control.  

books books books – 6.23.26 Read Post »

israeli politics

persian Market - 6.22.26

Persian market

 

“To bed right now!”

I say, with great authority.

“Just five minutes,”

he replies, looking at the screen.

“Okay, but at the commercial,

It’s off to bed with you.”

“the commercial is short,

I’ll just peek at the next scene.”

“That’s it, then to sleep

“or there will be

terrible consequences.”

And I plop down on the couch

to wait for him to switch off

and turn to the stairs.

 

And my eyes begin to droop

And open only when I hear,

“I’m just going to get some ice cream,

off the truck. Can I have

A few bucks?” 

His hand is already in my purse

and I’d rather get through this

without excitement,

so it passes quietly,

After a while, he comes back

and his face is covered with chocolate

And the tv is still blaring

and he sits down to finish

the last bits of the cone.

“you’ll have to wash your face

and brush your teeth

all over again, or

there will be terrible consequences.

 

By midnight we’re still on the couch

watching Dr. Strangelove together.

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israeli politics

survival - 6.20.26

Some of my friends living in foreign countries tried to comfort some of our Israeli friends by noting that every where in the world is dangerous, but come on.  Gaza is dangerous.  Levanon is dangerous.  Israel is dangerous.  Iran is dangerous.  Russia is dangerous.  Ukraine is dangerous.  Australia is not.  Canada is not….

to quote Tom Lehrer – together we go sliding down the razor blade of life.

and yet we’ve been laughing more than ever – because it is perhaps the last laugh.

 

 

 

 

survi Read Post »